Diamond Announces Top Products for September 2013

Oct 04, 2013

(BALTIMORE, MD) — (October 4, 2013) —The Crime Syndicate has invaded Earth and the villains have taken charge in Forever Evil #1 from Geoff Johns and David Finch, the debut issue of the autumn crossover event from DC Entertainment and the best-selling comic book to specialty retailers in September 2013, according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.

DC Entertainment was September's top publisher, with a 40.39% dollar share and 45.17% unit share for the month. Marvel placed second for the month with 5 out of the top 10 comic titles, led by Infinity #2 & #3 and Mighty Avengers #1.

Comic Book Specialty Market sales in September increased sharply over August. Driven by DC Entertainment's "Villains Month," comic sales were up nearly 32% over the previous month, and graphic novels climbed by nearly 12%. Year-to-date comics sales are up by 12.5% over 2012.

Summarizing the top products from the below charts: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is the near-future American West in Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta's East of West Volume 1: The Promise, the first collected edition of the best-selling series from Image Comics and the best-selling graphic novel for September.

Jeffrey Brown, the indie comics sensation behind the best-selling Darth Vader & Son, returns to a galaxy far, far away with new characters and new hijinks for young readers in Chronicle Books' Star Wars: Jedi Academy, the month's best-selling book in the comic book specialty market.

The classic play style of Risk expands through successive games in Hasbro's Risk Legacy, the best-selling game product to the direct market for the month.

Also noteworthy: Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars Volume 1: In the Shadow of Yavin TP debuted at number three on the Graphic Novel & Trade Paperbacks list, while The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia HC continued its 10-month run in the Top 10 Books List. In addition, IDW Publishing’s My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Volume 2 TP also debuted on the top GN/TP list.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North Americaand around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

The count of new titles shipped includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.